Game Review: Super Mario 3D World

It’s-a-me, MARIO! That never gets old. Despite the hardships Nintendo have been going through since the Nintendo 64 era, Nintendo have been coming out strong with Mario and the gang and this game did not disappoint. Mario has been in our lives since the 8 bit era of the 80’s and has never left our hearts and our living rooms. I have had the chance to play his latest installment on the Wii U, Super Mario Bros. 3D World and I gotta tell you it blew us away.

This game starts you off like every Mario game, not much is put into the story: Bowser does something bad, like kidnap the princess, and Mario is off to the rescue. This time Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad venture into the Sprixie Kingdom after Bowser who have kidnapped 7 Sprixies. How original don’t you think?

If you grew up or had the opportunity to play the great Mario classics, this game will enlighten you. First off, it is a 4 player coop/competitive game. The game puts up to 4 players on the screen achieving the same goal: getting to the flag pole at the end of the level. We can safely say that this is a coop game to save the Sprixie Kingdom…WRONG! After each level each player is rated by how many points they accumulated and whoever wins receives a crown. Upon entering the next level, the other players can attack and take the crown from the winner of the prior level. Second, it has been since Super Mario Bros. 2 since we have seen these characters play together. And returning with each character is their special abilities they possessed in Super Mario Bros. 2. Mario is the neutral character, Luigi is slower but has his high jump, Peach has her floating jump, and Toad is quick, but cannot jump as high as the rest of the characters. Third, you’ll realize the soundtrack. This game has a remixed soundtrack of Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, and 3. You will be running and saving the kingdom humming to some familiar tunes.

Power-Ups are in abundance in this game. Many we have seen in prior games, but the most notable is the new Cat Suit. Finally, Nintendo has blessed us with an amazing new suit that is actually enjoyable to use. It makes you run like a cat, climb walls, and attack your enemies with a scratch of fury. Nintendo did an amazing job creating each level. Each level brings new surprises, from a Mario Kart theme stage, to a lava stage, and off through a parade of enemies. Once you begin your adventure you do not want to stop. Each stage contains 3 green stars and a stamp. Stamps are used at the Miiverse where you can send messages using these stamps. I’m guessing Nintendo is telling us we don’t know how to draw, haha. Some stages need a curtain amount of stars in order to continue. As always, the further in the game you go the harder the levels get. I for one can tell you that I got to Bowser and defeated him easily and with few headaches. The headaches came after I saved the Sprixie Kingdom. After you defeat Bowser you find a spaceship and are given extra levels. These are the hardest levels in the game.

I don’t have much complains about this game. If you are playing multiplayer, the player that is in the lead will control the screen. So, if you are trying to get a power-up, a 1up, or green star you could be put in a bubble as the lead player enters a pipe or door. One of the most annoying part of the game is if you are a hardcore gamer like myself and use the Pro Controller, you are forced to switch to the game pad on certain levels. It does give you a different experience, but it’s nothing significant enough to wow you. Oh, and those stages are single player only...so, your buddies will have to sit back and watch you play. It looks like Nintendo put out their Gamepad and trying to justify its existence.

Super Mario 3D World was long overdue. This game should have been out years ago, possibly on the GameCube times. So is it too late for Mario to help Nintendo out? You make the call.